Flying Aces Drop Morning Game Against the Phantoms, 3-2

Central Illinois Outshoots Youngstown, 26 to 20, but Falls Short

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Flying Aces drop the final of the three-game series against the Youngstown Phantoms, 3-2.

Central Illinois was perfect on the penalty kill, stopping all six of Youngstown’s opportunities, but they were not able to capitalize on their own power play chances despite outshooting the Phantoms 26 to 20.

Tate Singleton (West Lebanon, NH) scored to get the Aces on the board first at 1:49 in the first. Mitchell Gibson (Phoenixville, Penn.) collected the Youngstown dump-in and made a long stretch pass to Singleton. Singleton’s initial shot was stopped, but he chipped it in a lob over the goaltender and into the back of the net.

At 14:22 in the first, Jack Malone scored for Youngstown. Gibson made the initial save on his right pad, but Malone was able to bury the rebound to tie the game.

Seventeen seconds later, the Phantoms took the lead, 2-1, when Connor MacEachern entered the zone on a two-on-one and scored, shortly after the neutral zone face-off.

Central Illinois tied the game at 8:24 in the third. Cal Kiefiuk (Macomb, Mich.) passed to Sebastian Dirven (Cornwall, Ont.) who shot the puck from the left circle. Jeremy Davidson (Schoolcraft, Mich.) tipped the puck five-hole to tally the tying goal.

At 15:25 in the third, Youngstown scored after a neutral zone steal leading to a two-on-one breakaway which Matthew DeMelis buried on the backdoor to make the game 3-2.

The Flying Aces travel to Dubuque for a match against the Fighting Saints on November 9 before returning home on November 10 for Salute to Service Night.

Season tickets and Mini Plans for the 2018-19 season are on sale now. For tickets or more information, call the Flying Aces at 309-434-2980 or visit www.flyingaceshockey.com.

Known as the Bloomington Thunder from 2014-17, the newly-rebranded Central Illinois Flying Aces are a member of the top junior hockey league in the United States, the United States Hockey League (USHL). The only Tier I junior hockey league in the country, the USHL has become renowned for developing the next stars of both Division I college hockey and the NHL. At the start of the 2017-18 season, there were 128 active USHL alumni on NHL rosters, with at least one USHL alumnus playing for each of the 31 teams. In total, there have been 253 USHL players who have gone onto NHL careers, including Patrick Sharp, David Backes, Johnny Gaudreau, and Joe Pavelski, among others. The players in the USHL range in age from 16-20 years old, 95 percent of whom will go on to play college hockey at the Division I level. For more information, visit flyingaceshockey.com or ushl.com or download the USHL Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.